Born on August 18, 1948, Jaime is the daughter of James and Ann Sommers. Jaime was raised in Ojai, California, and she showed high potential in tennis. Her parents were college political-science professors. Unbeknownst to Jaime, they also worked undercover for the United States government. Both were killed (presumably murdered) in a car accident on April 16, 1966. Long-time family friends Jim and Helen Elgin became the 17-year-old Jaime's legal guardians. Helen's son, Steve Austin, and she became high school sweethearts, but he left Ojai to go to college and later to join the U.S. Air Force, and the NASA space program as an Astronaut.
Nevertheless, the 21st century viewer learns quite early that this version of the "Bionic Woman" had the same basic bionic parts as the 1970s model. However, Jaime version 2.0 also received a bionic right eye (a bionic component previously associated with the original Steve Austin).
Jaime is portrayed as the third cyborg and first female. She followed the astronaut/test pilot Steve Austin and the race car driver Barney Hiller (seen in the November 1, 1974, and November 9, 1975, episodes of The Six Million Dollar Man). Jaime's bionics were thus Rudy Wells' third generation. She has been shown to be able to run slightly faster than he could. Also, her prebionic life as a professional athlete gave her greater natural agility than Steve. Her difficult transition to postbionic life, along with later degrees in psychology, made her the ideal candidate to be Rudy's assistant in training new implantees in the use of their bionics. She trained Steve's son, Michael, to control his bionics after his operation, as well as Kate Mason.
Johnson named Sommers after a water skier he met while producing whale shows at SeaWorld. The name "Jaime" was predominantly a male name (a derivative of "James") before the television series began. It is probably not a coincidence that in 1976 the name Jaime became one of the 100 most popular names of the year in every one of the 50 US states. The female name Jamie (a variant spelling) also gained enormous popularity at the same time.
She acts on neither of these revelations, but instead returns to her life working as a therapist at the Los Angeles Rehabilitation Center. In 1987, after nearly 10 years with no contact, Jaime unexpectedly reunites with Steve Austin. Steve had left the OSI and had been enjoying life away from the government by running a charter boat. They meet in a restaurant where Steve was meeting his enstranged son. Trying desperately to avoid being seen by him, she nevertheless is confronted by Steve, who finds himself being thrown through the restaurant window. The couple come to terms with their years of separation and decide to see if they could rebuild their relationship.
Jaime and Steve occasionally return to the OSI in times of international crisis. Their time together prove that the love they once felt for each other has never died, and in 1989, the couple become engaged. During the five years that follow, Jaime becomes a Doctor. She moves to Washington, DC, and established a family-counseling practice. Her experience with the government and top secret clearance also open the door for her to help government agents. A computer virus, however, corrupts Jaime's bionic systems. Dr. Wells informs Steve that "she may never be bionic again", but Steve's main regard is he wants her alive above all else. She undergoes a major upgrade, which not only increases the power of her bionics, but also gives her night vision. On September 4, 1994, Dr. Jaime Sommers and Col. Steve Austin marry. At the ceremony, Rudy Wells gives Jamie away, and Oscar is Steve's best man.
In 2004, the character was listed in Bravo's 100 Greatest TV Characters. AOL named her one of the 100 Most Memorable Female TV Characters.
NBC aggressively promoted the series Bionic Woman.. The weekly remake drew large initial audiences. The series went on hiatus when worldwide entertainment was halted due to the 2007–08 writer's strike. The strike, coupled with diminishing ratings, led NBC to cancel the show after production of eight episodes.
On a visit home to Ojai, Jaime is reunited with Steve Austin (now a colonel and former astronaut). With some matchmaking from Steve's mother, Jaime and Steve's relationship quickly blossoms, but their happiness is replaced by tragedy when the couple go skydiving. Jaime's parachute rips, and she plummets to the ground. Her injuries are critical; both legs and her right arm are crushed beyond repair. Severe head trauma also causes damage to her right ear. Steve, who is deeply in love with Jaime, contacts his boss Oscar Goldman at the Office of Strategic Intelligence (OSI) and pleads with him until he authorizes a top-secret procedure—bionic replacement. Steve knows it is the only way to save Jaime, because the government performed the same experimental operation on him two years earlier. Under the skilled hands of Dr. Rudy Wells, Jaime's surgery is a success. Her badly damaged arm, legs, and inner ear are replaced with state-of-the-art electronic prostheses. Upon learning of the radical surgery performed on her, Jaime is fearful of being a freak. However, with Steve's support, she soon learns to accept her new limbs after he reveals that he is bionic, too. As they are in the midst of planning their wedding, Jaime's body rejects her bionics. Emergency surgery is fruitless, and with Steve by her side, Jaime dies on the operating table.
In February 2016, Lindsay Wagner clarified in an interview with Headlines and Global News why the series that made her a star, unlike her "Six Million Dollar" counterpart, never revealed the final cost of The Bionic Woman. "That was a whole political thing wasn't it?" Wagner says. "She [Jaime] couldn't cost more than the man! They were going to make it more, but there was this whole political thing with the network because it was the beginning of the feminine revolution". Thus, ultimately the cost of Jaime Sommer's bionic implants was never revealed and deemed Classified information in the opening credits.
